As far as first impressions go, few have done better than Emma Hayes. The U.S. women’s national team head coach led the team to Olympic gold in Paris just two months on the job, reestablishing the U.S. as one of the dominant forces in women’s soccer.
That triumph will now serve as the benchmark as the team convenes for their first camp since the Olympics when the real work begins for Hayes. The head coach was not just hired to win a gold medal but to keep the USWNT in the sport’s top ranks as the women’s soccer landscape becomes increasingly competitive. October’s friendlies against Iceland and Argentina will offer a first glimpse at Hayes’ long-term vision for the USWNT’s evolution, as will the year-end friendlies at England and the Netherlands, as the head coach swaps the quick timeline to the 2024 Olympics for a patient buildup to the 2027 Women’s World Cup.
Here’s what’s at stake for the USWNT as they close out 2024.
Player pool expansion
The USWNT’s first post-Olympics games will act as a “victory tour,” as mandated by the collective bargaining agreement, so Hayes will work chiefly with the group that won gold for this month’s camp. A handful of unavailabilities, though, plus Hayes’ request for an expanded roster means some fresh faces made the cut this time around. Six players named to this month’s camp eye their first cap, but more experienced players like Alyssa Thompson, Ashley Sanchez and Hailie Mace are back in the mix after around a year or more away from the team.
The roster does not include any members of the U-20 team that finished third at last month’s Women’s World Cup, with Hayes electing to let them re-settle with their clubs after the tournament. Talented 17-year-old Lily Yohannes, who made her debut in a friendly against South Korea in June, also did not make the cut this time around. Yohannes has yet to commit to her international future to the U.S. and is currently in the process of acquiring a Dutch passport, though Hayes said she and U.S. Soccer will take a patient strategy as conversations continue with the prospect.
“We have to be mindful. She’s a really young player, Hayes said. “Understandably, she wants to take the time at her age and her stage before she makes an important decision but there has been communication post-Olympics between Lily and us at the federation so I’m always optimistic but I don’t like to pressure anybody in a situation.”
This month’s friendlies, though, are just the start of the USWNT’s project to expand the player pool, which began in earnest last year under interim head coach Twila Kilgore. Hayes and her coaching staff have spent the last few weeks traveling to watch prospective talent with their clubs and are casting as wide a net as possible. The results of their scouting will most likely be on display in January, when U.S. Soccer will put on a futures camp that will run simultaneously with a full USWNT camp in Los Angeles. Hayes said the concurrent sessions will not be limited solely to NWSL players or youth internationals but could include more experienced players and even those in the USL Super League.
Establishing a tactical identity
Hayes can own the Olympics triumph as her own, in large part because she got the best out of an already-talented player pool. She largely worked with an inherited a player pool and tactical vision for the Olympics rather than crafting either on her own, which means October’s friendlies could offer a true first glimpse at Hayes’ long-term strategy for the USWNT.
Over the summer, the head coach stressed that she did not want to overwhelm the players with excessive tactical information ahead of the Olympics, though the summer tournament offered some hints. She was able to solve the U.S.’ attacking problems, which plagued their disappointing 2023 Women’s World Cup campaign, with relative ease as Mallory Swanson, Trinity Rodman and Sophia Smith scored a combined 10 goals in Paris. Some of the team’s other issues, though, will require more time to solve.
The U.S.’ midfield, for example, looked unresolved at times during their gold medal run, though that issue has plagued the team long before Hayes’ hire. The new head coach found mixed results with a midfield three that included some combination of Sam Coffey, Lindsey Horan, Rose Lavelle and Korbin Albert, at times appearing disjointed with the in-form attack. Hayes’ work in midfield from this point on will be worth keeping an eye on, and will perhaps be a focal point as she builds a team that represents her tactical vision.
Build a wide-ranging vision
National team coaches are not necessarily required to have a comprehensive plan to develop the program as a whole, but U.S. Soccer clearly hired Hayes with a program reboot in mind. Hayes is the first head coach to take the job after the world caught up to the USWNT, and so she has the unique challenge of keeping the team competitive in a new-look women’s soccer landscape. For her, that smartly requires a look not only at the current players but the wider player development strategy.
At the January camp in Los Angeles, Hayes will introduce the strategy for the 2027 Women’s World Cup and 2028 Olympics at a first-of-its-kind conference for the senior national team and youth equivalents, and was collaborated closely with U-20 USWNT head coach Tracey Kevins on the project.
“I’m very much a believer of making everything we do interdisciplinary and from WNT [down] to YNT, there’s a very, very clear pathway for our players,” Hayes said. “All youth coaches, national team coaches and the staff in and around the teams [will] come together so we can deliver a unified strategy. Most importantly, when the WNT are training, the futures camp will be going side by side so if I’m coaching on one side and that session finishes, I’m able to then be involved in the session on the other side.”
The details of Hayes’ vision are not reserved solely for U.S. Soccer players and staff. She will share details with other figures in the USWNT’s sphere to ensure there’s little conflict between clubs, leagues and the national team. It is true to Hayes’ player-first reputation and echoes her roots as a coach at the club level, but also reflects the modern realities for the USWNT. The national team was once players’ sole priority, but the increased investment in the women’s game means clubs and countries can now hold equal importance.
“The important part is the collaboration, particularly with the NWSL,” Haye said. “I’ve been communicating across the board — at the board level, the general management level, the head coaching level — the plans, not just for this camp but for the November camp and the futures [camp] to make sure we’re aligned and most importantly, that we build trust because the January camp is during a preseason. I think it’s important for us, when we bring players into our care. I know what it’s like as a club coach to do that so I want to take care of our players in the preparation for the beginning of their seasons.”
